Garment hanger support



June 23, 1953 0L. M. MORRISON GARMENT HANGER SUPPORT Filed Dec. 15, 1950 IN VEN TOR Patented June 23, 1953 UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFlCE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in garment hanger supports of the foldable type for supporting a large number of garment hangers in a small space. V

In many residences and apartments there is a scarcity of closet space, with the result that the occupants find great difficulty in properly storing garments.

It is the object of this invention to produce a support for garment hangers which shall be so designed that it can readily be attached by screws. to the wall of a clothes closet and which can be folded against the wall when not in use and which can be unfolded into a convenient position for attaching and/or removing garment hangers therefrom.

Another object is to produce a support of the type pointed out which. shall be of a simple and substantial construction with sufiicient strength to render reliable and ellicient service.

A further object is to produce a foldable suppoi of such design that it may be used for vertical or horizontal folding as may be found to be the most desirable.

The above and any other objects that may become apparent as this description proceeds are attained by means of a construction and an arrangement of parts that will be hereinafter described in detail, for which purpose reference will now be had to the accompanying drawing in which the invention has been illustrated in its present preferred form. and in which:

Figure l is an end view taken looking through plane l-i, F gure 3;

Figure 2 is an end view showing the support arm in folded position;

Figure 3 is a side view looking in the direction of arrow 3 in Figure l and shows the hanger support secured to the wall in a vertical position;

Figure 4 is a view looking downwardly through a horizontal plane showing the device supported in a horizontal plane the movable support arm being shown partly open;

Figure 5 is a section taken on line 5-5, Figure 2, the broken lines indicating the position of the brace rod if the section is taken on line bat-5a, Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a view, partly in section, taken on line 6-6, Figure 2; and

Figure 7 is a fragmentary view showing a detail of the construction.

In the drawing reference numeral I represents a base or support member of angle construction that is provided with a plurality of spaced holes for the reception of screws H by means of which it can be attached to a wall, in a vertical position, as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3, or in a horizontal position as shown in Figure 4! A hanger support arm 12 has one end pivotally connected with the lower end of the out wardly projecting flange at point l3 and can be moved from the positions shown in Figures 3 and i to a position parallel to member id, as shown in Figure 2. A plate M is spot welded to the bottom flange of member l0 and has its outer end bent so as to form a narrow vertical wall 15 that terminates in a narrow flange Hi. Wall I5 has an opening I7 through which a portion of brace rod It extends. That portion of rod 13 that extends through opening 5'! also extends through a loop I9 whose ends are spot Welded to plate 14 and forms a bearing. The extreme inner end 20 of rod It extends substantially perpendicular from the rod and forms a stop that limits the downward movement'of the rod and its attached arm I2 to the position shown in Figure 3. The free end of rod l8 passes through an opening in flange 22 of member IE to which it is secured by nuts 2| as shown in Figure 7 or by a cotter pin as shown in Figure 1.

Arm [2 has a Z-shaped cross section as shown most clearly in Figure 6 where the two flanges have been indicated by numerals 22 and 23 and the interconnecting web by numeral 24. Flange 22 has a plurality of holes 25 adapted to receive the hook of the ordinary garment hangers, some of which have been shown by broken lines and designated by reference numeral 26.

When the support is secured to the wall in a vertical position and arm 12 is moved down into horizontal position, as shown in Figure 3, end 20 of bar I8 engages the surface of loop 19, as indicated by broken lines in Figure 5. A plurality of garment hangers can be attached to arm 12 and the arm and hangers can be raised into a substantially vertical position, as shown in Figure 2. The garment hangers will lap each other as shown. Web 24 has an angular spring clip 2? welded to its under side, Figure 6, and spaced from the adjacent surface of flange 23 a distance sumcient to receive one flange of member I0. The free end 28 of member 2? i outwardly inclined to facilitate the folding operation. The vertical flange of base [0 has a projection 29 which engages in depression 29a on flange 23 to latch the two parts in overlapping position.

When the hangers are to be applied or removed arm I2 is brought down into the horizontal position shown in Figure 3, in which position the hangers are readily accessible. When the device is not in use and during shipment the parts are folded as shown in Figure 2.

In some places it is desirable to apply the hanger support to the wall in a horizontal position as shown in Figure 4 in which position arm l2 may be folded into close parallelism with base i even when heavily loaded.

When the support is in horizontal position rod l8 serves as a tension member with the result that it does not depend for its supporting action on torsional resistance of this rod as when the parts are secured in vertical position as in Figure 3.

Attention is called to the simplicity of the construction and the design which employs members of angle or Z-bar cross section which give high rigidity and strength per unit weight.

The fact that the device can be folded so as to occupy very little space reduces thecost of packaging and shipping.

The construction described and shown in the drawing is such that it can be easily formed from metal by suitable dies or from plastic by the use of suitable molds. The material found to be the most suitable may be used in the construction.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new is:

l. A foldable garment hanger support comprising, an elongated base member of angle cross section adapted to be attached to a wall, a hanger support arm of Z-shaped cross section having one end pivotally attached to one end of the base member for movement to positions substantially parallel therewith and perpendicular thereto,

stop means for limiting the movement of the support arm to substantially ninety degrees, a plate having one end attached to the base near the end having the support arm pivot, said plate extending laterally from the base, terminating in a bearing adjacent its outer end, and a brace rod having one end journaled in said bearing and the other end attached to the outer end of the support arm, whereby a triangular structure is formed comprising the support arm, the plate and the brace rod, said triangular structure serving to resist forces tending to move the support arm laterally, one flange of the support arm having a pivotal connection with the base, the other flange having a plurality of openings for the reception of garment hangers.

2. A device in accordance with claim 1 in which the stop is formed by a laterally extending end portion of the brace bar positioned to engage the surface of the plate when the support arm reaches a position substantially perpendicular to the base.

LOUIS M. MORRISON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 393,247 Lambert Nov. 20, 1888 667,198 Dickinson Feb. 5, 1901 1,318,257 Blaustein Oct. '7, 1919 1,552,223 Murray Sept. 1, 1925 1,930,606 Bousfield Oct. 17, 1933 2.142.830 Wendell Jan. 3. 1939 

